Chorley motorists honk in solidarity with ambulance strikers as they take to the picket lines again

Holding banners in a fight for fair pay, the NHS workers braved the cold and were also greeted by one kind woman who also dropped off a tin of biscuits to see them through their long protest. As the rain threatened, but remained at bay, paramedic of five years with the North West Ambulance Service Ben Astley told the Post: We don't want to be here but we feel we have no choice. The government needs to listen to what the staff are saying about low pay, the conditions we have to work with and the issues we have with the NHS at the moment in terms of the job that we are trying to do. We need to look at the long handover times. It's impacting on our jobs and how we are able to respond on a daily basis. Staff are leaving the service because of this."

He added that the impact was not just on people's jobs but that a lot of staff were also suffering with their mental well-being also. "None of us want to be in this position standing out here for 12 hours but we feel with have no other choice to make our voices heard. we are urging the public to stick with us and understand why we are taking action and hopefully we can get a resolution really soon."

"It’s getting worse”

Apprentice Medical Technician Andy Hargreaves echoed his thoughts adding: "It's getting worse. We are reaping years of of underinvestment in the NHS and staffing levels are really low so everyone is trying to work harder to try and deliver patient care the best way we can and at the minute we can't do that. The pay does not reflect driving on blue lights and providing life saving care - it's not sustainable. We sign up to this knowing that as we love helping people. We all have a core of care, but it does seem a bit unfair that the pressures you are faced with on the daily, would earn you a similar pay or maybe a bit more in the likes of McDonalds. The retention of staff is one of the biggest problems in the NHS as they don't feel they are valued and when agency staff come in and get paid more and get to cherry pick their shifts The NHS needs sorting out. It needs taken out of the political domain. A long term plan needs to be implemented."

Jenny Hurley who is part of the Chorley and South Ribble Hospital campaign says she has been protesting outside the hospital for 354 weeks now against hospital cuts in the NHS. "They tried to shut our A & E down in 2016. If we have to travel to Bolton, Wigan, Blackpool, people will die in the ambulances. We don't have enough ambulances as it is. It is going to take years to build up our staff again. A lorry driver isn't allowed to drive for 14 hours so why are we having our ambulance workers in unsafe condition? It's horrible."

Protests will take place today all over the UK as up to 25,000 ambulance workers across England and Wales have gone on strike in a dispute with the government over pay. Paramedics, call handlers, drivers and technicians, including those within the North West Ambulance Service, from the Unison and GMB unions are taking part in staggered strikes across a 24-hour period, with Unison and Unite members taking further action on Monday, January 23.NHS Providers has warned the NHS will be hit harder by today's strike than the one held in December as more staff, including call handlers take to the picket lines. The North West Ambulance Service is operating 'life and limb cover', meaning that all category 1 calls – the most life-threatening such as cardiac arrest – will be responded to.NHS England has told patients to continue to call 999 for life-threatening emergencies but to use 111, GPs and pharmacies for non-urgent needs.